Study supports expanded use of proton therapy to minimize radiation exposure to healthy, developing organs.
Researchers analyzed the largest cohort to date of pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma treated with proton radiation therapy (PRT), finding both that proton therapy was effective at reducing tumors and demonstrated minimal toxicity to surrounding organs. “These data are extremely encouraging and could be a game-changer for a number of reasons,” said lead author Christine Hill-Kayser, MD, Chief of the Pediatric Radiation Oncology Service at Penn Medicine and an attending physician at CHOP. “Not only did we observe excellent outcomes and minimal side effects that validate the use of PRT in high-risk neuroblastoma patients, we answered a lingering question about proton therapy — the concern that because it is so targeted, tumors may come back. Tumors mostly did not come back — suggesting PRT is effective, less toxic and a superior choice for our young patients who must endure intense treatment modalities in an effort to cure this high-risk cancer.”
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 April 2019 <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190409153631.htm>.
https://www.redjournal.org/article/S0360-3016(19)30190-7/fulltext
